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Friday, February 16, 2018

Musing on concealed carry permits

North Carolina qualification target

I recently applied for my North Carolina (NC) carry permit. The permitting process in NC involves taking an all-day class (Old School Protection in Johnston County) which includes a shooting qualification test at close range. I should get my permit within 90-ish days of applying.

As I was taking the class, in the back of my mind I was musing about the different requirements of various states. With a variety of requirements among the states, the results are always about the same - -

In the mid 1970's I got a "Pistol Toter's Permit" in Georgia. It had no training requirements. To this day, permits in Georgia do not have specific training requirements. I had a Tennessee permit for over twenty years. The requirements there are similar to NC requirements, a day of training with a shooting test. Both Tennessee and North Carolina require a background check; and North Carolina requires a check to see if you are reported to be a loony tune. Florida requires that you show some evidence of training and have a background check.

There are differences between between these states, and between them and other states. Tennessee just a few years ago enacted "Constitutional Vehicle Carry", meaning that with just a few prohibited areas, one may legally carry any firearm they lawfully own or possess in their vehicle. North Carolina, on the other hand has had "Constitutional Open Carry"* since 1921. In Florida, Open Carry (with a few exceptions) is strictly forbidden.

Some states require no permit, including Vermont, which has no permitting process, and Arizona, which makes permitting optional, for those who might want a permit for interstate travel to states that recognize the permit. Also, there's that pesky Federal gun-free school zone act that apparently makes an exception for permitted individuals.

The permitting process is a de-facto infringement on the right to bear arms.

Bad actors with felony convictions or misdemeanor domestic violence offenses often continue to ignore laws and be ongoing bad actors.

Bad actors, all to frequently, ignore gun-free-zone signs, and continue to kill and maim.

Most legislators are accessories-before-the-fact, because they continue to mandate gun-free-zones for peaceable citizens, thus creating killing fields for mass-murderers as we have now seen in Florida.